The Rolling Stone Article
by Freyalinn
Summary: What the Rolling Stone story of Rayna Jaymes could look like.


The reigning Queen of Country Music Rayna Jaymes

9 times Grammy Award winner,

2 times CMA Award winner,

nominated for 6 CMA Awards this year,

platinum albums sold,

over 25 years of a successful career,

have her own record label Highway 65,

opens up for the first time on her life and career. Her upcoming wedding to Luke Wheeler is going to be the biggest event in country music this year.

Rayna Jaymes and Deacon Claybourne were a power couple when they were together. Some say they were a duo and others say Rayna Jaymes was the star. There´s no doubt that Rayna Jaymes is a megastar, but Deacon Claybourne made her even better. Some say that any guitar player could have done that, but I disagree. They were magnificent together, their chemistry, their energy, their interplay on the stage was undeniable. You could see how much they loved each other, every touch, every kiss was so intense, so one could only guess what it was behind closed doors. When they sang their duets Deacon Claybourne´s voice harmonized perfectly with hers. They were simply great together. In my opinion, no other guitar player could have matched up to the many ways Deacon Claybourn complimented Rayna Jaymes.

\- Brett Rivers

* * *

 **Let´s start with your upcoming wedding to megastar Luke Wheeler. Such an event it´s going to be. How does it feel?**

Well, it´s certainly going to be different than my last wedding. So much bigger and so public. Honestly, I don´t know what I feel about it, because lately everything has gone so fast I haven´t got time to think. I know I love Luke and I want to marry him, but I´m not particularly fond of this extravagance my life has become since my engagement to Luke. I would prefer a smaller wedding.

.

 **About that, you are a very private person. Very protecting of your privat life, never given a full, deep interview, not even on your music and career. Now you are having this big wedding, letting People Magazine have the exclusive rights to cover it both film and photos. What made you change your mind? Some people would call that selling out.**

As I said, I don´t like how my every move is public knowledge now. I know Luke has a different view of the press and media then I do. As long it´s about my music it´s fine, but not my privat life. I also know that marrying Luke would increase it, intensified it. It comes with the territory, but I didn´t expect it on this scale. Once we are married and the spotlight shifts from us I hope me and Luke will have a normal life, not one in the public eye as it´s now.

.

 **I heard it´s going to be over 500 guests. How many of those guests is in the music industry?**

It´s a lot of guests yes and all of them except family members are in one or another way involved with music. As you said it will be a big event and it´s just a courtesy to invite a few colleagues of us.

.

 **I wouldn´t say 500 people are a few?**

Well, both me and Luke know and have played with many other artists through the years.

.

 **And the honeymoon? Where will that be?**

It will be a special one. We are both taking our children with us and will combine Christmas and honeymoon in Australia. Then after 3 weeks Luke and I will start our combined tours, the honeymoon tour with 5 concerts in Australia before returning to America.

.

 **Let´s talk about your career. What a career you have had so far. Over 25 years in the music industry, 14 albums all sold gold and platinum. Both Grammy and CMA Awards winner. That´s pretty impressive.**

Thank you. I´m quite pleased and proud of what I have done. I´m proud of every single album I have done. Each one marks a time in my life and career, which I never will forget. I once said that it wouldn´t be a Rayna Jaymes without Deacon Claybourne. That´s still true, but I would like to add 2 names to that. My manager Bucky Dawes and the wonderful Watty White. Without any of these 3 men, my life and career wouldn´t be what it is today, I have no doubt that I would still sing, but not had the success I do have.

.

 **Watty White, he is a legend in this town. How did you meet him?**

I met him at an open mic night. He came up and talked to me after I sung. He said he hadn´t heard a voice like mine in a long time and that he thought I was going far and he wanted to help me get there. He got me my first paying gig. Watty was sort of my manager before he found Bucky for me. It was just last year I found out he knew my mother and it wasn´t the random coincidence he was there that day, like I always thought. Watty helped me start my career and for that I will always love him.

.

 **And Bucky Dawes? He has been your only manager. That´s rare. Most artists have switched a few managers, especially under such a long career like you have.**

Ah, sweet Bucky, what can I say. He is a great manager and a hell of a friend. I would never replace him. Without him I would never be here, he has done so much for me and my career. I don´t know where to start counting everything he has done for me. I owe him so much. Me and Deacon did the easy part, wrote songs and sang them, Bucky did everything else. I´m so blessed to have him in my life.

.

 **What got you started singing at the beginning? Your mother was musical, wasn´t she? She used to do a lot of charity work involving music if I recall correct.**

Yes, she was. She was always singing with me and my sister for as long as I can remember. There was always music in our house. I don´t know when it started, but I know early on that I wanted to sing. And sing country music. I got teased a bit for it in school, but country music captured me the deepest of all that was played at our house. I could listen for hours to all those great artists like Emmylou Harris, Bill Monroe, Patsy Cline, Johnny Cash and Merle Haggard. Just naming a few. My mother loved music.

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 **You started your own label Highway 65. Why did you do that?**

It has been a dream of mine for a long time. To help struggling new artist, be a safe place where they can develop and be creative with their music without too strict and hard demands. Sometimes it takes time to finish an album, I want to give that time instead of rushing an album or EP out because normal record labels have a deadline and wants to start making money fast on their new artists. I understand that too, but sometimes you have to see it from the artists point of view and it´s there I think I can make a difference. At least be more understanding.

.

 **Your label seems to go fine. You have CMA nominee Sadie Stone and Juliette Barnes, also CMA nominee signed to your label. Two strong and talented women. Before that you had Scarlett O´Connor signed. Are you only going to sign women? Going for a feminist label?**

No, no, no. That´s pure coincidence. I do like strong women because you still have to be one in this business. It´s getting better, but it´s still pretty much a men´s world. If that is so because by sheer numbers, then it´s nothing to be upset by, but when some festivals and radio stations favourites male artists, then it´s not okay. If believing in equal rights and fair chances are feminist opinions, then I guess I´m one. If things had gone differently I would have 2 male artists signed now, but it didn´t go my way. So I´m still looking out for a male artist to be my first to sign.

.

 **14 albums. That is a lot of songs. A hard question now. Which is your favourite song of all your songs? I know it may be difficult to pick one song, but there has to be a few that means more than the others, a special meaning?**

It´s impossible to just pick one. I don´t know how may times I have gotten that question. But you are right, a few songs means more than others of course, even if most songs are connected to a certain time or memory. I would have to say Buried Under. Because it was the first song I wrote by myself in a long time, for more than 5 years. It was a good feeling that I could still write on my own. I had for years been relying on other songwriters. First when I started my career, I wrote most lyrics by myself, I got a few complete songs from Watty. Then when I met Deacon and we become a couple we wrote together all the time. Those albums I released during the time we were together was a mix of my own songs, Deacon´s song and our co-written songs. About a year after we had broken up, after my marriage to Teddy we tried to write together, but we only managed to write 2 songs. It was too awkward between us and we never wrote together after that.

.

 **You and Deacon co-wrote This Time, nominated for Single of the Year together. How was that?**

I needed a single to launch my new album with, none of the others could fill that role. I didn´t come up with anything and the time was of the essence. I know me and Deacon can write a hit song pretty fast sometimes. We are friends and in a much better place now when we have put all last year problems and blaming behind us from the accident. So I asked him if he would consider writing a song with me and he said yes. We wrote This Time in just one afternoon, it surprised us both we could do that after not written together for over 10 years. It felt great, after the first tense hour, it felt like all those years hadn´t passed at all. It was fun to write with him again, I have missed it.

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 **Is there a song, that is just a song, without any deep meaning or emotionally message?**

That would be Postcard From Mexico. While where we wrote it and when we wrote it means so much to me, the lyrics are just words we throw out and somehow it turned into a hit song. It was a pleasant surprise that it sold so well, we basically wrote that in 15 minutes.

.

 **I think the way you sung it on stage was a factor. You two had such a chemistry together singing, particularly that song. I happened to see it live once.**

Yeah, maybe you are right. I have heard that comment before, people use to say that we had great chemistry on stage. At that time we were very much in love and wasn´t afraid to show it. I don´t think we would have been able to hide it even if we wanted to. Our love was too strong to even try hiding it from people.

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 **You touched on the accident. That was a scare. The city of Nashville almost lost 2 of their icons in one fatal crash. Are you fully recovered now? No injuries left from the accident?**

Yes, that was indeed scary, I almost died. I was comatose for 2 weeks, but no broken bones, just bruised and of course abrasions and bruises. I am considering that I was very lucky until they told me my vocal cords was damaged and I wasn´t gonna be able to sing like I used to. That terrified me, I would rather break any bone in my body, hell every bone then lose my voice. What would I do then? It´s both my livelihood and my life, music is my life. I don´t know who I would be without my voice, who I am if I can´t sing. That is all I have been doing my entire life besides being a mother. Luckily my vocal cords healed up and with the help of a vocal therapist, I can sing as normal again. I´m fully recovered from the accident yes.

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 **You have mentioned Deacon a couple of times now. I would do a cardinal sin not to ask questions about him. You can´t do a story about Rayna Jaymes without talking about Deacon Claybourne. What does he mean for you?**

Back then he was my life, my everything. He was my first real relationship. I fell in love with him in like 5 minutes, it was really love at first sight. He was so handsome with his dark hair and blue eyes. So more like a man than those boys I used to date. Today we are friends and without him I wouldn´t have my lovely daughter. Deacon is the biological father of my oldest daughter. He will always have a piece of my heart.

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 **Was he the love of your life?**

You could say that.

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 **Why did you guys break up then?**

Love wasn´t the problem. It was not a secret then or now that Deacon had a drinking problem. He is a alcoholic and have to fight his addiction the rest of his life. That is his story so I just leave it at that. Life with Deacon at the end became too painful, too unstable to bear, no matter how much I stilled loved him. I worried me sick about him so much that I almost ruined my career. I couldn´t live like that anymore, so I broke up with him.

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 **You and Deacon wasn´t just romantically involved, he was your partner in music as well. He played guitar, you wrote together and he also sang duets with you. How was it to work with your partner? Wasn´t it hard to separate love and work?**

I know for some couple it´s hard to work with the one you love, but Deacon and I wasn´t an ordinary couple. We loved each other so much we didn´t want to be apart even for one second. It was the best time in our lives when we were on tours. Our days filled with sleep, singing and making love. Love and music is the same thing for us. We didn´t have the need to separate anything.

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 **Deacon is a very skilled guitar player and singer, together you were a power couple. Your voices harmonized perfectly. While he had a successful career with you, I always wondered why he didn´t record more albums on his own. I understand that he didn´t want to leave you, but when you broke off it would be the natural choice to go solo.**

You are not the only one who wants to know that, why he didn´t go solo or at least release more of his own music. Maybe part of the answer to that is that I offered him a job as my bandleader, 2 years after we broke up. He is so talented and I tried to push him to make an album. He said he was fine being my bandleader. I insisted until we had a major fight about it and then I dropped it. We are both stubborn and none of us would budge.

.

 **Why did you ask him back?**

Simple, he is the best there is. I don´t know how many guitar players Bucky got fro me, but none of them was to my liking. They didn´t hold the same standard, they didn´t fit in with the rest of the band, they didn´t do anything extra besides playing the notes, the excuses was many. Honestly, I think I made some excuses up because I didn´t want anyone else then Deacon. Being spoiled by the best, so that no one could ever match up to him. So I asked him, hoping he would accept. What I didn´t think over properly was how hard it was going to have him there, sing with him again and not be able to touch him. We weren´t a couple anymore. In fact, I was married to Teddy so I set up boundaries for both of us and he never once tried to overstep them. It was a hard and uncomfortable time until we found a routine that worked perfectly for both of us.

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 **Why do you think he accepted the job as your bandleader? It must been hard for him to work with you, see you with another man. Did he perhaps think you guys would get back together?**

I don´t know why he accepted, Why would you say that? Why would he think that? I was newly married.

.

 **Well, as I said, I saw you two perform, a couple of times actually. And the way he looked at you was clearly showing how much he loved you and I don´t think that kind of strong love just dies or goes away just because you married Teddy Conrad. I don´t think your love did either as a little rumour said you briefly got together again just before the accident.**

Well, I have moved on now. I´m gonna marry Luke in 4 weeks.

.

 **I think his feelings for you are so strong still, that if your first marriage didn´t change them, I don´t think your second marriage will either. It will not make him move on, Do you want him to?**

Of course I want Deacon to move on. I want him to be happy. Why hasn´t he? You will have to ask him.


End file.
